The Real Story
by Maryland Rose
Summary: A contemporary reboot of the show - which is also commentary on the old show. The stories are more or less the same, but the characters do not make stupid mistakes.
1. Chapter 1

Well, after crafting the basic idea for a reboot, I decided to develop it. It is both a reboot and a running commentary on the old series. And the characters are aware of the soap opera, which aired BEFORE their stories started. The assumed that it was a nasty practical joke by Count Petofi (Or rather Baron Orczy as he is known in this reality)

Enjoy

PROLOGUE

"You going on vacation to Maine? To visit your strange relatives?"

"David, that joke was funny the first ten times you said it. " Ellie Collins said "And If we are talking about relatives you might as well talk about Cousin Susan at the Senate"

"Senators are not as much fun as vampires and witches." David answered.

"There are plenty of weird and evil doings at the Senate"

That conversation came back to her as she drove her car towards the Acadia National Park. She could claim that it did not matter now, but as a child, growing around the hysteria of that weird soap opera, and sharing the last name of that family, she had had her share of nightmares and mockery.

And she had not yet gotten over it…

Maybe she had other issues to work out, and her discomfort at the mention of an old TV show was merely the excuse she gave to herself…

…. I should have gone West, she thought. Except that it was too hot there, while the temperature in Maine tended to be more pleasant. And there was plenty of lobster…

For God's sake, she chided herself, isn't it about time she got over that childish dislike? Yes, it has bothered her as a child, but to carry it on now that she was professional?

It was time that she confronted it and saw how silly it all was.

There was a sign on the road "Benchleytown 5 miles". She pulled her guide for more information. Benchleytown had once been a shipbuilding town and shipping port of some importance. Now it was a shadow of its former self, supporting itself by fishing, maple syrup extraction, and tourism. There were several nice restaurants, a couple of bed and breakfasts, and an "historic inn" with lectures and recreations. She was intrigued. She called the number on her cell phone and was told that they had vacancies.

She would go there. She would laugh at her fancies, and look at the real Maine history, and return a saner person.

The inn was well lit, with several parked cars. Nothing ominous about that. She went to the check-in desk and was greeted by a pleasant woman who looked somewhat familiar. She gave her the room key while pointing out all the historic background she might enjoy.

"And we got the lecture after dinner. A journey back to the glory days of Benchleytown"

She enjoyed the seafood dinner, though she wished they used more spices…. Probably more authentic, but still, not up to Italian standards. She joined the other guests, who chatted up the place. Somehow the conversation drifted to the remaining Benchleys, the remnants of what had been once the local aristocracy. "Just imagine, the old brother and sister living all alone in that decaying mansion" "Well, her daughter could not take it anymore. She married and moved into town." "And his son, which I understand was quite a troublemaker?" "In school. Comes for the holidays. But again, he does not stay long"

The lady at the desk came in. "And now our featured speaker. Mr. Amos Benchley, our historical reenactor, who will tell us of what Benchleytown used to be."

Mr. Benchley came in, dressed in period clothing. There was a strange magnetism to him. He went on the founding of the town, and the shipbuilding dynasty that had sprung for it. "Benchley ships went all over the globe, trading wherever they went."

And this… he continued ominously was what brought the downfall. Because what they traded were slaves. "It was called the triangular trade. Buy slaves for the sugar fields. Buy molasses from the sugar fields for the distilleries. Buy rum from the distilleries for the slave traders. Yes, the Benchleys grew rich from those. Alas, it was said that one of those slaves had certain powers, and he cursed them. Not long afterwards several Benchley's were killed, and the survivors were informed of why destruction came to them. The survivors wanted to buy the forgiveness, so they began supporting anti-slavery groups, first the manumission societies, then the abolitionists. They fought in the Civil War. Later on, they helped in the Civil Rights struggle. But while that stopped the violent killings, it did not stop the slow decay that took them on. There they stand, a shadow of their former selves, contemplating a past that dooms their future."

"You seem to have escaped." Someone commented.

"Have I really? I never married, had children. My line ends with me. And whatever future Dinah and Charlie have must be away from the Benchley mansion."

He continued, recounting the Revolutionary War, and the Benchleys that fought in it. He talked about those old battles as if they were still happening.

He continued for a whole hour, entrancing his audience. Between his voice, and his vivid eyes you could get lost in the narration and believe yourself in those days.

Then he finished, and left, quickly before anyone could ask him questions. It was so sudden as if he had vanished.

It was truly impressive, and the mood changed, there were still jokes, but they seemed forced. The people had been sent back to the end of the eighteenth century, and the tragedies that happened, and it was hard for them to return.

Ellie's eyes fell on the portrait – Amos Benchley in period costume, she thought…. But it looked so much in the style of that period "Is that him or his ancestor?" she asked.

"What do you think?" the manager – her nametag said Wendy Carruthers.

"Well, it might be his ancestor, the painting looks old"

Mrs. Carruthers nodded knowingly. "Mr. Benchley returned from England about six years ago. Retired, he said… and wanted to know the place his ancestor came from…His ancestor had gotten into a family fight and was shipped out by his family… he was disinherited too… Now his descendant is with us."

Then someone had to say it. "It feels like Dark Shadows, doesn't it?"

Mrs. Carruthers grinned. "That's what we want it to be like. A unique experience. But we are not the Collinses and the rest of them. I guess we could be if we were a bunch of idiots, but we are not."

She then talked of more mundane matters to dispel the mood. Mrs. Carruthers was a personable young woman whose easy manner did not conceal her efficiency.

Ellie was still caught in the mood – but accepted the reassurances.

"Nice tourist trap" a voice said to her.

Ellie turned. "I am sorry. Are you talking to me?"

"Do not take it too seriously." The woman said. "Sorry, I must introduce myself. I am Beverly Eagleton, the local historian. I am trying to get battle reenactments off the ground… I wanted this inn to be more authentic, but Mrs. Carruthers said that tourists do not want history lessons, but sensation. She remembered the soap opera, and when Amos Benchley came, the idea came to her to make it this way. Not blatant, but enough to make it interesting…. Alas… no one cares for historical truth."

They talked for a while, Mrs. Eagleton had a lot of interesting details to tell about the town, and there had been quite an amount of truth to Benchley's tale, once the more extravagant details were omitted.

"I insisted on it. No anachronisms no obvious mistakes."

"Not like in the show."

"No. Imagine sending Josette shopping to Paris in 1794. In the middle of the Terror. The Great Terror, when they completely dispensed with defense lawyer. Show up at the Revolutionary Tribunal and be automatically sent to the guillotine. Not a place for an aristocrat to go shopping. I do NOT allow this kind of stupidity here."

"So, what was the real story? Why are then Benchleys in decline, if not a curse?"

"Bad business judgement. They were shipbuilder at a time when Maine forests gave them plenty of cheap building material. But then ships were built in steel – leaving wood for small boats only. It was a time to diversify, but the Benchleys then did not have the business acumen to do it. So, their shipbuilding began to lose money and they had to retrench. At least they had the sense to start a cannery. And when you go through a bad economic time, personal problems and personal bad decisions have more grave consequences…. Well, so we are today. Canning and tourism…"

"And Amos Benchley's ancestor? Why did he leave for England?"

"And old story. A man brings in a new bride, much younger than himself, and in the household; there is a male relative more or less her same age. Same old story. Paolo and Francesca. Pelleas and Melisande, Tristan and Isolde…"

"An affair"

"Suspected affair. Enough for the Jacob Benchley to disinherit his nephew Amos and ship him off to England"

"And there were killings at the time."

"A fortune hunter had married into the family and began removing the impediments to his bride's inheritance. Fortunately, he was killed before he could finish the job. "

"Good old-fashioned greed. Nothing supernatural about it."

"You got it."

Ellie stayed a bit longer, then decided she wanted to sleep. As she went up, Beverly went to Wendy. "She seems to take it too seriously." She said.

"I guess that with her last name, she would"

"Nothing that a good sleep cannot handle" Beverly answered, as she nodded towards Amos, who was sitting in a darkened corner, having changed into everyday clothes. Amos nodded back at her.

000

Ellie's dream did not come easily. There was anxiety as she moved in strange places, looking for something. Something… Then there were a pair of eyes fixed in her direction. Then it was Amos Benchley in front of her. "Yes, I could be HIM," Benchley said, "If I was a blooming idiot". Then she was in the Senate, awaiting a vote…. And then she heard another voice "We wonder what De Valera will do. He cannot be brought to support the Treaty." And then she was in a strange place, a palace of sorts.

And her anxiety was gone.

000

She woke up, refreshed. She remembered last night, and how it has affected her… It was because of her last name. "Same as a U.S. Senator. Same as an Irish revolutionary. No need to worry about an old TV show"

She went down for breakfast and went to look at the Amos Benchley portrait. Yes, it was an unbelievable resemblance…. Except…. Except what was that Obama button doing in the background?

"You see it, don't you?" Wendy Carruthers said "Pop liked to make these little jokes. He would pain these portraits in the style of the period, and then add little anachronisms."

"So, this is Amos Benchley, not his ancestor"

"There was a painting of the ancestor, but it was ruined after too many years in the attic. Mold destroyed it. So, this is it. An Albert Pruitt original. I got several of them, if you want to buy one."

"I might want to take a look at them."

Hours later, with a few dollars less, and a fake old painting in her trunk, she drove in the direction of the Acadia National Park.

The mosquitos had been at her, she noticed. She scratched the back of her hand, and her upper arm.

And her throat, where two mosquitos had been at her during the night…

000

"As you said," Beverly told Wendy. "A good night sleep, and pleasant dreams got rid of all her fancies."

"Well, Amos knows how to do it. And I sold another of Pop's pictures."

Yes, those pictures help with the impression. Yes, we resemble the show. But it is a tourist trap, and not to be taken seriously.

"A tourist trap, effectively. I explained it to Amos when he was not sure. He did not need to chase them. They would come to him, pay him besides, and would bring in friends and relatives later. After all, we all live off tourists one way or another, why not a vampire, too?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Lester Davies sat next to Beverly "So this is the story of our lives… as narrated by screenwriters who had no idea what they were doing"

"Yes. And before you complain, look what they have done to me. Made me a standard ingenue, pretty, sweet, and not very bright. I was "obsessed by the past" according to some writers. I was not! I am a history buff! I have published articles in more than one journal. I have conducted investigations and found some interesting data that I shared with other historians."

"So you are a historian."

"Of course. Just because I do no have an academic degree does not mean that I am not as good a historian as those who teach in the University! I might be better than some."

"Well, you have recourse to Amos, who can tell you exactly what went on."

"Or what he was aware of at the time."

They looked at the screen, at the young girl in the train, lost in her memories, and in wondering who her real parents were.

"Winters… because she was brought to the orphanage in winter. And all her life she wondered who her mother might be."

"And you don't?"

"Lester, where I grew up, all the children wondered who their parents were. It was nothing special. You were just one of many. Yes, I wondered. But I wondered how I would make my way in the world. And I developed a passion for history. So when the offer from the Benchleys came, I grabbed it It was a paying position, and there was plenty of history to be dug up. I hoped to make a name for myself there."

"But none of this comes through."

"In the show I was the good girl, and good girls were no supposed to be ambitious back then. So they turned it into looking for my mother, which is an acceptable search of a young woman. and made me just obsessed by the past, and not in a good way."

They kept watching as the waitress came and chided her for wanting to work for the crazy people in the big house.

"Well, the got Wendy right." Lester said.

"It will not last. She will come down in ingenueitis before you know it"

"Screenwriters did not have that much imagination then…. Hey, where I do come in. I released Amos at the same time you came in."

"I understand that it will a year before it happens"

"A year!"

"Screenwriter logic. Bring in a vampire, and people lose interest in the other stories."

"Or it took time for the idea of a vampire to pierce their brains."

"Well, he was not doing that much when he was released." Lester admitted. "He was getting his bearings. Very much afraid of being caught, and locked again in the coffin. He was not fully aware then, he explained to me locked in there. He hallucinated a lot. He was aware of time passing, and then he was uncounscious for a while. Every now an then he sent out a silent scream, begging to be released."

"And you were the one who heard it."

"Heard it is not the right word. But yeah, I was in the attic, looking for stuff that I could restore… I too had ambitions. I was not going to be forever that ex-con that the Benchleys so generously hired. I could get into the antique restoring business… be my own boss."

"And now I heard you are hiring a couple of kids."

"Too much work for a single person. But yeah, I got my dream….thanks to Amos."

"So how was it that you released him?

"I found this painting. Too far gone with mold to be salvageable. But I could hear a heart beating. And I fell a great distress…. I followed it until I got to the cemetery, to this vault. It was a wall, but I knew that I had to break in. A bit of work with a sledgehammer and I found this chained coffin. I broke the chain, lifted the lid, and… and he grabbed me."

"And he drank your blood. He could have easily kill you. Why did he stop?"

"Because he sensed that I had come to his summons. That I was HiS and that he was supposed to protect me…. Well he let me go and left me there…trying to avoid the temptation as it were. "

"And then he found the cattle"

"Yes. He was afraid of being near people. Afraid of being caught. He did drain a calf, and he had the wits to drag it out in the path of some feral dogs. Then he came back and started asking me questions…"

"And so no one knew that there was a vampire loose. Only that some feral dogs had killed a calf."

"And that continued for a while."

"No wonder the scriptwrites did not want to do this. It would be booooring. In the meantime my life was getting interesting."


	3. Chapter 3

Lester and Beverly as they watched the show began remembering how it had been then.

The guy who was supposed to be the Steve character was a straight arrow Decent hard working guy. The real Steve….

Lester remembere when he had tried to put the moves on Wendy. Wendy Pruitt she was then. A waitress, and a lot more. She was a damn good hacker (it was thanks to her that Amos had a green card who identified him as English). And she was always looking for extra ways to make money – she had to. With her father being gradually lost to alcoholism, and with a boyfriend who was looking for easy money, she had to be creative.

Well, in any case, Steve Carruthers had grabbed him, and told him to get lost That Wendy was too good for an ex-con like him

"Ex-con Yeah. The only difference between you and me is that you have not been caught yet."

Steve had hit him, and hard. "It does not matter. The sheriff will catch you one day, and then you will see who is better than who"

Well, that was in the past. Steve and Wendy were now married They were settled, and with all they had gone through, what was the point of rehashing old stuff that did not really matter..

Beverly remembered the household she had moved into. Louis Benchley, who put some time at the office, to earn his allowance, doled out by his sister Marjorie. He just drank and made quips which did not disguise the despair of a failed life. Marjorie sat in her parlor, like a spided in her web, running everyone's life, or at least trying to. Thee was much in the town that escaped her, but still she pretended that everyone depended on her say so.

At least in her home, her power was absolute. Louis bemoaned that he had never been allowed to become a painter, but accepted his fate. Dinah, Marjorie's daughter was always holding herself back. She obeyed her mother, but you could see the resentment boiling underneath. At one time she had caught Marjorie lecturing her. "Do not complain. This is much better than a prison"

"I do not know mother, I do not know. At least in a prison you know when you get out.

"Unless it is a life sentence. You should be grateful "

"And I am, Mother"

"So show it."

As for Charlie… well, she had found out that he had been expelled from school for starting a fire…

Now they said that a child setting fires was a harbinger of a serial killer. Maybe. But in Charlie's case there was another explanation…. And that was now in the past….

But in those days, he was a handful. At times, she felt like forgetting about historical research and leaving.

Except that the old Benchley mansion which had fallen into disrepair was a treasure trove of artifacts…

Well, that was how it all started….


	4. Chapter 4

Lester watched Amos as he watched the show that purportedly retold their story years in advance. The expression on Amos' face was incredulity.

"According to this, I just was freed from the coffin where I had been locked away, and hours later I am this composed gentleman who can walk into his old family home as if he had been away for a weekend at a beach"

"As you notice, you did not start showing up until a year later. Unlike what happened, you were not released at the beginning."

"I imagine they could not have found much interest in the wreck that I was then…. You remember it Lester, don't you? I was a mess, a proper mess. I could not even make coherent sentences for a couple of weeks. My brain did not work. I just had animal cunning. Like "I should not be seen. I should not get close to people. People can hurt me. They can put me back in my box."

"Yes. I remember. When you got more coherent, you asked me that if you were caught, I should make sure you were dead. … Please do not let them lock me again in that box. Please, Lester."

"I suppose I did. It was probably the most sensible thing I said at the time. You know, I do not remember much of what happened them. I was in a haze. Doing things automatically…. I went after animals, because I knew they would blame wolves or bears… I do not know if I planned much. I just took each day as it came. And you were there, always there. You talked to me, and I had to answer. You were my anchor…. I do not think that I ever thanked you enough."

"And I never thanked you enough for giving me a future. Thanks to you I am not longer an ex-con with everyone looking at me with suspicion. I am now a businessman, a proper citizen. You made me respectable."

"But none of that would show up on TV. Not interesting enough. I understand that the actor did let some of my confusion and interior torment come through. Because he was afraid of forgetting his lines… just as I was afraid that I had forgotten too many things… But the writers…. Well, I imagine they knew only one way to write about vampires, so that's how they wrote "me""

"Well, they did not know either what doctors or policemen do, so when they write them, they come as hopelessly incompetent, because they make them do stupid things."

"Because if no one ever did stupid things, they would have no plots."

They kept watching. "well, this is getting ahead of ourselves, then. A whole chunk of my experience will not show up there. Better go with the others and check how their recollections match what the show says they did."

….

Beverly was between amused and irritated. "They made me into a standard ingenue, that's what they did. And Wendy, and even Dinah… I guess that in their world, a young woman could only be a sweet young thing."

"At least they got Maurice right. The rich guy with a chip on his shoulder, who comes seeking revenge."

"Yes. Which confused me. Yes, Louis had treated him rotten when they were kids, and Maurice had been poor. But when you are rich, and can do and get anything you want, why waste it going after people you knew in High School? Think of all he could have done with his money. Petty revenge is SO unimaginative."

"You told him that." Hannah Jacobs said.

"To his face." Beverly smiled. "Which is why he found me interesting. And we went on a date, of sorts."

"Which led, bit by bit to the wedding."

"Yes, it turned out that way. But not as is started. I guess we intrigued each other. We were kind of a mystery for each other, and we had to unravel it."

"But when he came in Maurice was all bent on revenge against Louis Benchley"

"Only to find out that there was nothing he could do to Louis that could be worse than what he endured."

She remembered how it had gone. They were supposedly alone, but they spoke loudly, and the house had a peculiar resonance, that let you hear what went on behind closed doors if you stood at the right spot

"What are you going to do to me, Maurice? Make me live with my crazy sister? Make me work at a job I hate? Make me give up painting? Stick me with a firebug for a son? What can you really do to me? Or are you going to take it all away? Will you force me to give up this jail of a house? Will you make me lose my job at the cannery? Will you make me earn my living by painting tourists, and trading stories for free drinks at The Whaler? Will you take away my darling son? I am willing to swear on a court of law that he is not MY son, that my wife had an affair with you, and that Charlie is YOUR son. Please take him I will sleep easier when he is gone."

"Have you ever been in jail, Louis? I have thanks to you. And I might return the favor"

"I am now in jail. And my crazy sister is the worst warden in the world."

Marjorie was now coming to where she was, so Beverly left her listening post before Marjorie could notice her, and went upstairs to deal with Charlie, who had been busy digging into her things.

"Charlie, it is not nice to look into other people's stuff."

"I want to know what you are writing about me."

"It has nothing to do with you.

"I know what you are doing. You will tell stories about me, so that Father can convince Aunt Marjorie to send me away to Military School or other place like that."

Beverly bit her answer that Charlie might belong in an institution. Alas, Charlie could understand her unspoken words.

"I will make you sorry. I will make everyone sorry."

Beverly sighed, and asked herself again if the historical research she was carrying on was worth THAT.

Downstairs, Maurice Eagleton echoed Charlie. "I will make you sorry I will make everyone sorry" before slamming the door behind him.

Louis went back to his brandy. "You can try, but I am sorry enough already."

….

Later, when he was coming back from drinking copiously at the bar, Louis lost control of his car, and crashed it against a tree.


	5. Chapter 5

"Was I really that incoherent?" Amos asked Lester.

"For the first week and a half – then you began to make sense. And to listen to it. I warned you that the farmers were out hunting for the wolf or bear that damaged their cattle. I told you to go after wildlife, of which we have a lot. And no one wonders about wolves tearing up a dead deer."

"Yes. And I remember you asking me why I needed so much blood. I told you that I needed human blood, but I was afraid that I could not stop, and then I would be hunted for real."

"Yes. We got into a discussion as to why you had not drained me, and you told me that you had claimed me and that you were supposed to protect me…. So, we got about wondering if you could take from me, after you had gorged on wildlife and see if you could stop. And maybe claim others, who would then be protected, even if you fed from them."

"I remember. And I remember the bitterness that came upon me. Because the curse was not that I would kill them but enslave them. That I would enslave white folks…. It was punishment for my family's slave trade."

"But it was the only way"

"Yes. I understood that. The alternative was worse. And the slavery would only mean that they would not tell anyone of me, and that every now and then I would drink from them…. it would be bearable. Still…"

"We spent quite an amount of time talking about it."

"I wonder why you had so much patience with me. I know, I had claimed you, but still..."

Lester laughed. "Because you were the only one who did not look down on me. I was an ex-con whom Marjorie Benchley had given a second chance out of the goodness of her heart. And because I would be grateful for the low wages she paid me. No, you did not look down on me…. And I had the chance to look down on you, and it felt good."

"Yes. I was a wreck, wasn't I? Being locked in sensory deprivation for that long is not good for the mind. Mind you that I was kind of comatose and hallucinating, but still every now and then I would become aware and panic, and then it would subside…"

"And in the meantime, things kept happening that we knew nothing about. The Benchleys had their own crisis."

-0-

Dinah watched how Marjorie berated Louis for driving drunk and almost getting himself killed.

"It was not an accident Marjorie. There was something wrong with the car."

"Yes, and that something wrong was at the wheel."

"Maurice Eagleton did it! I am sure of it!"

Dinah turned. She did not need to watch anymore of this. Poor Uncle Louis. Like her, she was under Marjorie's thumb, and there was nothing that they could do about it.

Now, If Maurice Eagleton could damage them. If the damage was bad enough… She did not know whether to fear it or hope for it.

But she could go to him and try to figure things out.

She had no trouble finding out his room. After all, he was the main topic of conversation in the lobby. And getting in the room was not difficult, now with her skills.

There were plenty of papers, about business plans for Benchleytown, and then several that mentioned Uncle Louis. And a couple of names of local people who she knew had some shady business on the side.

The doorknob moved, and she barely had time to move herself next to the bed.

"Hello," she said. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"What do you want?"

"You. You can destroy Mother, can't you? I want you to take me with you, far away."

"What do you think you are doing?" He grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"Looking out for my future."

Eagleton laughed. "I knew that Louis Benchley was a lot of things. But I never thought he would be a pimp, and of his own niece too." He pushed her out the door. "Go tell him that his little ploy will not work – reckoning is coming to him!"

Outside, Dinah checked that the names of the Benchleytown locals were in her pocket. Uncle Louis would like to see them.

Benchleytown locals who would be willing to tamper with someone's car for a price.

=0=

Charlie had been quite docile today. Beverly might have considered that he had been chastened by the dressing down she gave him, but she knew better.

He was planning something

The question was how bad would that something be? With a kid accused of starting fires, anything was possible.

She wondered again if she could give notice, and never mind her research.

But it was her first job, and to leave it so soon, it would not be so good for her job prospects. Unless it became clear to anybody that the kid was dangerous.

She could not find her notebook. And she had put it in the usual place.

So, she had to dig into Charlie's things. If she found it, should she accuse him of theft? But Marjorie would back the child, and Louis… well, Louis did not matter in Benchley House.

She took advantage that Charlie was out there, playing one of his elaborate games... she should learn more about those games. But later. Now she needed to find her notebook.

In the third drawer she found it. And next to it a car part. A car part that was not bright and shiny, showing that it had had some use.

Louis's car? Had Charlie tampered with it?

Well, this might be enough evidence to have the kid sent away, and she could leave with no stain on her record.

Yes, that would be best for everyone.


	6. Chapter 6

"I was so naïve" Beverly said. "I thought that once I showed the evidence, they would see how troubled Charlie was and DO something. But Marjorie would have none of it. No matter what Louis and Dinah said. There would be no scandal. She would give Charlie a good talking to, and that was it. At least I got from her the promise not to tell Charlie that I had been the one to find out… Well, she kept the secret. But Charlie might guess on his own…. I spent several weeks terrified of what he might do."

"And Marjorie's word was law. She would not leave her home, but she ran the town, nevertheless."

"I thought of her as a spider, sitting on her web, and the rest of us were caught."

"I wondered why you did not quit your job."

"It was my first job, and Marjorie would not give me a reference if I quit… I did not know what else I could do to earn a living."

"So you too were caught in the web. Same as I. Same as poor Walter."

Beverly's mouth twisted at the mention. She did not have a good memory of Walter.

"Poor Walter. He really thought that the sun came out of Marjorie's ass. He was always telling me that I was not grateful enough to her for giving me a second chance. And so…"

"Say rather, poor Dennis York."

-0-

Dennis York, as he left the cannery saw Maurice Eagleton talking to Albert Pruitt. He suspected what was going on.

It was bad news. Eagleton was determined and he could do a lot of damage. He was not the man to be turned aside so easily.

The Benchleys would have to come to an arrangement, and soon

-0-

"Did you see her?" Beverly asked Dinah. "The woman by the rocks. I thought that she was going to jump, then she vanished"

"Tha's Annelise, our resident ghost. She married Jacob Benchley, and jumped to her death after he was killed. Whether that was guilt or not…. She is supposed to be our protective spirit, but considering the shape we are in, I dareseay that her powers are limited."

"Could she protect me?"

"You would be better off leaving this place. Anyone would be better off leaving this place."

Beverly shrugged. She could not leaven, not yet. But if she could get an article printed, and she could talk Professor Talbot to get her a job in the Historical Society that he ran..

And for that she needed to do research.

-0-

Maurice prodded Albert. "You know that you lied on the stand that day. That Louis paid you off."

"And…?"

"I want you to say it."

"You want me to admit my committing perjury? No thanks."

"But…"

"And anyway, everyone knows that I am an alcoholic. My memory has holes in it. No lawyer would want to stake his reputation on my testimony."

"How much did Louis pay you?"

"I gave him painting classes, and he bought one picture of me. Pefectly legal transaction. Leave me alone, Eagleton. You have not done badly for yourself. So why drag in the old story?"

"Because it was a lie."

"There are so many lies around, that one more will not hurt."

-0-

Lester had to endure another lecture about gratefulness from Walter, before being able to get back to the rotting old mansion where Amos was hiding. The place had potential, he thought.

He saw Beverly getting in, and rushed to stop her. "Hey do not go there, it is not safe!"

"You come and go all the time."

"I know where to step, and where not. You might fall in a pit and break something, and not be able to get out. I do not want to have to rescue you. Why do you want to go here, anyway?"

"I am looking for historical artifacts. Anything from that period."

"Look, if I run across anything you might be interested in, I will bring it in. But you do not come in."

"You do not know what to look for."

"So give me a list"

As soon as Beverly was gone, he went in. Yes. This place had potential. It could be properly restored. And if he did it, well, he would have that as a professional reference. He would be doing that, instead of working for Marjorie. Tarrant for minimum wage.

Amos was still asleep. When he got up (after he went to take care of his feeding) he would talk about plans. Amos would eventually have to make his presence public. He could claim to be a distant relative, and ask to move into the old wreck. Probably talk to Louis about it. (Louis would welcome another source of casah, specially if it did not have to come through his sister – yes, make a deal that Amos paid a nominal rent and paid more rent directly to Louis (as for money, it was a good thing that Amos had remembered a cache of jewels buried in the garden = saved there when there had been some fighting going o). He had gotten them out, and was slowly fencing them. That money would help for a while, and maybe there would be other ways to get money.

But for that he neede Amos to be fully "with it".

-0-

"Mrs. Tarrant, Marjorie. You have to reach an agreement with Eagleton. He wil not quit And he could do a bit of damage."

"I do not have to do anything, Mr York. You forget your position. You are my employee, and you do not make these decisions."

"But.."

"The discussion is closed."

Frustrated, Dennis Yorke left. Marjorie saw him leave, and she sighed. "He is getting to be a real nuisance, he and his scruples"

-0-

Albert came back to see Wendy getting ready for her shift at the café.

"Is that fellow Carruthers around?"

"No, he is not."

"Good. I know, Wendy, you love him. But you are already saddled with one useless male. You do not need him to drag you down. I am bad enough."

"Pops, do not talk of yourself that way"

"It is true. All I do is drink and drag you down. You deserve so much better"

"You sell paintings, and that helps."

Albert sighed. "Oh, baby. I am a failure, and I know it. I do not know how you put up with me."

-0-

In the beach Dennis York lies dead, his head bashed in.


	7. Chapter 7

Sheriff Perry Maxwell interrogates Louis, under the watchful eye of Marjorie. Louis insists that he knows nothing of Malloy's murder.

"The deceased talked to friends and said that he had to talk to you."

"Well, he never got around to it. He talked to my sister instead."

"Did he talk to you, Madam?" Maxwell turned to Marjorie.

"Yes. He was making no sense. He kept bringing in Maurice Eagleton. But I told him that it was nonsense, and to come back when he had something intelligent to say."

"What did he say?"

"That Eagleton was consumed by hatred, and that he would attempt to destroy us. Which I already knew, and already contacted our lawyer."

"And you have no idea of who could hve done it?"

"Maurice Eagleton, of course."

Sheriff Maxwell interrogates every one at the mansion, separately, even Charlie. When he interrogates Beverly he purposely lets him escape that York had a key ring wih the initials DY, and if Beverly should find it, she should contact him immediately. "And do not let anyone in this house know. They are all under Mrs. Torrance thrall. You seem to be free of it."

-0-

Maurice Eagleton came back to his hotel room, to find, stunned, a familiar woman checking in.

"Violet! It is you!"

Violet Rathfon turned and she gave him an artificial smile.

Maurice's heart sank. There was a time when they had been passionately in love. Or at least he wasa… and now..

"Fancy meeting you here." She said. "Why have you come?"

"Trying to settle accounts with Louis"

"There are better ways to spend your time."

"And you?"

"I am trying to get Charlie back from his father"

"I do not think that Louis will fight you over him."

"But Marjorie might… and, Maurice. I know what we had. I know how we felt… how we still feel for each other. But if I am going to fight Marjorie in court, I cannot be seen in what could be called a compromising position… Maurice, you are I are going to have a long talk and maybe try to reconnect. But I beg you, not until this is over. Can you understand?"

-0-

Lester told Amos that he had to leave for an errand of Marjorie's "Will you be OK?"

"I am not wholly helpless. I can manage."

"I worry about you being all alone here."

"You do not need to"

Lester got into his truck, and Amos flew away, to try to catch a deer

-0-

Beverly saw this and decided that this was the time to investigate. Lester could not stop her. And Lester did not know what to look for.

And she would be careful as to where she stepped.

There were several piles of debris, and sifting throough them brought slim pickings – though a piece of brick with a stamped legend on it looked promising. And then what looked like a head from a broken figurine. It looked like porcelain. Could be Sevres porcelain, brought by Jacob's French bride?

She kept looking. There was something shiny too She dug it out.

It was a key ring with the initials DY.

She looked at it, surprised,

"You should not have come" Walter Derr towered over her. "Now you will ruin everything!:

She tried to get up, but Walter pushed her down, and sitting on her, he tied her hands with his belt. Then he took he scarf and tied her legs.

"You cannot do this!" she protested.

"You make trouble for Mrs. Tarrant. Same as that guy York. She does not deserve this, not after all she's done for this town! You are all ingrates!"

"It is wrong! You cannot do this to me!"

Walter used his own scarf to gag her and then left. "I will deal with you later"\

-0-

Violet went back to her room, to rest a while.

She was surprised that things seemed to have moved. The maid had been there… She looked at the jewel box.

The scarab was gone.

She took out a small urn from her bag (fortunately the thief had not gotten to it) and lifted it

"Great Ra, a thief took your sigil. Help me find her and punish her"

A flame rises from the urn, and in it Violet sees a young woman admiring the scarab.

-0-

Beverly struggles against her bonds, and crawls on the floor, looking for something with a sharp edge. A white figure stands over her, and a sense of peace fills her. She falls asleep"

-0-

…

Violet stares at the maid in the street. "Give it back" she says.

The maid shrugs and moves away. "I do not know what you are talking about."

Violet walks away for a couple of blocks. Then the maid erupts in flames.

Passersby roll her down and extinguish the flames. The maid is taken to the hospital.

Violet waits, then walks to the spot with other onlookers. Her foot touches the scarab in the debris. She looks up to the sky. "Great Ra, it is here" she murmurs

The scarab jumps into her pocket.

-0-

Amos returns, having fed. He sees a white figure.

"Annelise!" he shouts

He follows the figure who leads him to the bound Beverly. He releases her, and notices the vein in her throat. He has fed. He remembes Lester's advice. Time to see if he can stop in time.

He bites Bevely, and as he expects stops before doing damage to her.

Walter comes in, grimly determined to kill Beverly – there is no other way, he tells himself

As he approaches, the wraith of Annelise stands up before him. And with him is Dennis York. Dennis touches Walter who drops dead.

Amos tries to touch Annelise who moves away. Amos follows her. "Annelise! Wait!" he shouts.

Once he is gone, Berverly wakes up, looks at the dead Walter, and runs away


	8. Chapter 8

"I I admit it. I was a complete idiot then." Amos acknowledged. "I was so elated that I could drink from Beverly and leave her unharmed, that I…. wanted to do it again, to see if I had gotten it right."

"So you went out, that same night, and attacked this girl as she was walking back home." Lester growled. "And let her fall on the snowy ground"

"I thougth she would be all right."

"Except that she ended up in the hospital with hypothermia."

"I had forgotten about the cold"

"Luckily for you, there was another case that had Doc Forrester busy"

…..

"It is strange." Doctor Brian Forrester told the sheriff " Two sisters admitted to the hospital within hours. The first with burns, and the second with hypothermia. It is weird."

"One sister with too much heat and another with too much cold" Sheriff Maxwell agreed with his friend. "But weird things do happen."

"I know. I have seen it over and over."

"As long as it is not a pattern, then it is just something that just happens"

"You are right Isolated incidents are just that."

-0-

"So it was Walter Derr. And I am innocent of all charges" Maurice told Beverly as the shared a coffee.

"Walter thought that the sun came out of Mrs Tarrant's ass. " Beverly sighed. "I can almost feel sorry for him, with such a blind devotion"

"But you are not ready to forgive him."

"I do not know how long I was struggling to free myself, and wondering how long before he killed me. No. I am not." She thought about it. "It was the family ghost who saved me."

"I do not believe in ghosts." Maurice snorted. "the living make trouble enough…. Say, won't you get in trouble with the Benchleys for talking to me?"

"They think that I am getting information out of you.

"Indeed you are. And why are you here?"

"Determning if you are really worth dating…. You are a personable man You are quite attractive. But I do not like that obsession on getting revenge on Louis Benchley.. The poor guy has been punished already by life."

"So you think that I am attractive?"

"When you are not obsessing, you are"

-0-

Forrester calls on the biochemist Hannah Jacobs. "I got some blood samples that I would want you to do a full analysis"

"A strange case?"

"Rather a strange coincidence, Maybe it is nothing. But if there is something to be found, you are the one who will do find it"

"You have a high opinion of me."

"It is warranted, Hannah."

-0-

…

Violet finds a pile of stones. And old Indian relic. She knows what it really is and smiles. It was given a different name, but still it was in honor of Ra, the Sun God.

"Mighty Ra, the time of the sealing of the heir is upon us. Guide me so that your power comes to him."

-0-

Louis meets with Maurice, against his sister's judgement.

"Keep away from Violet. She is still my wife."

"She left you. And she can be with whoever she wants"

"You goddam adulterer."

"And you are a murderer and a perjurer"

"I am not..?"

"You ran that man down with your car, and then you perjured yourself saying that I was the driver."

"You deserved it for cheating with my wife."

"And you paid Albert Pruitt to perjure yourself."

"So what If I did? You deserved it."

-0-

Violet rises and notices the graffiti on the stones.

"Desecration" she says.

Laughter answers her. She turns and sees three young men making fun of her.

"Look how she clutches her pearls and faints.." one of them says.

"Did you do this?"

"Yes. Isn't it nice? I like to put my name everywhere I go"

"I see."

Violet turns and walks away, followed by the laughter of the young men.

When she is gone a few yards away, one of the young men catches fire. His friends try to roll him down, and beat the fire out

Violet does not turn. "Only you can prevent forest fires."

-0-

Night falls and Amos rises again. Emboldened by his success the night before he attacks another girl, and leaves her lying on the snow.

-0-

Maurice replays the tape where Louis admits to having perjured himself, and paid Albert Pruitt to do the same

"I got you now, Louis. You will pay for what you did to me!"

He goes down for a cup of coffee and sees Violet, sitting, very proper, in a nearby table. She waves to him.

She approaches him. "Will you help me get custody of Charlie?"

"I dunno. Because I still want you, and if you come with the kid…"

"You know, there is a chance that he is your son"

"And a chance he isn't"

"Why do you not want him?"

"I asked around. He is a very disturbed child. And a probably al firebug. I do not think that I could handle him"

"I know what is the matter with him, and I can handle him"

Maurice sighs. Yes, he could give the tape to Violet… but then what?

He needs to think things a bit more.

-0-

…

"You were lucky" Lester commented to Amos. "Those two girls got tied with the Violet's burnings. But still, when I came back and found out that you had left them on the snow, in a Maine winter, I freaked out."

"What can I tell you? I no longer feel the cold, not as normal humans do, so I did not realize what I was doing. But you were right, and I promised that after I fed I would make sure that they were someplace safe and warm Or make sure they were conscious and able to take care of themselves."

"And you kept your promise. Not that there were no OTHER complications.."

"And then we started making plans as to what we would do when the whole thing died down, and there were no suspicious activities. I would come in as a distant relative curious to see the rest of the family, and get permission to stay at the old ruin with the promise to restore it. And pay Louis under the table for helping me set It up. And of course hire you to do the work. And then you could use this as a showcase of your talents"

"Yes we made plans. Only we did not realize what was going to happen soon afterwards."

-0-

"Perry. This is a pattern. One burning, one almost freezing to death. They must be connected" Brian Forrester told Sheriff Maxwell "there is something going on."

"There probably is. But there is little that law enforcement can do. According to the witnesses, the people who were burned busrt into flames by themselves, with no one to light a match nor anything. And the two cases of hypothermia, all they could say is that they must have fainted."

"And there is not much that medicine can do either. We do not believe in spontaneous combustion, for starters."

"But still something is happening. Something that we cannot explain."

"Well, I know someone who might Used to be a classmate of mine – Griff Lennox. He left medicine to go into parapsychology and all that. This should be right up his alley."

-0-

"I really meant to do as I promised." Amos said to Lester. "And I thought that I knew what to do. I was in control of my hunger, and I could make them forget afterwards It would all become simpler and easier. I could join the community, have a decent time of it. Perhaps the Benchleys would have finished doing penance...

"I found Wendy as she was closing the shop. I went in as a mist, and faced her. She made a small cry, but they I had her in thrall to my eyes. I helped her sit down, and then bent over her.

"I was not prepare for the onslaubht of emotions that flooded me as I bit into her. Suddenly all that I had known, all that I had lost came back vividly. It was as if just happened yesterday. I was floored. And then I looked at Wendy and she looked familiar. Someone from my past Someone I knew…someoe who could remmebe how it once was.

"And I thought she was Annelise."


	9. Chapter 9

"I was a shock" Lester commented "I thought that Amos had gotten sensible at last, and that we could start planning for his 'arrival' as a long lost relative. I should have known better. I come in, and what do I see buy Wendy there, in a trance."

Wendy joined them by the TV. "I want to see how they played it. The first couple of days are still in a haze. I do not know yet if it was something that he did to me, or just my past life memories trying to break through."

"In any case, Amos got violent when I told him that he could not do it."

-0-

"I lost everything and everyone! All I knew and loved is gone. My mother, my father, my little sister, Prudence. And Annelise. She IS Annelise reborn! I will have her again. And maybe others! And you will not interfere! You understand, Lester? You will not take Annelise from me!"

-0

"Amos can be truly fearsome when angry." Lester said "He was not as vicious as they depict him. And he DID believe that Wendy WAS Annelise. I could not get through him at all. Neither could Prue."

"Prue?"

"Remember the little girl that showed up, playing with her ball?"

"I remember her." Beverly said. "She looked solid enough one moment, then she vanished. I tried to talk to her, but she paid no attention to me."

"She talked to me. She said that I had to take care of her brother. That her brother was making a mistake and that he did not listen to her"

"And in the meantime, the situation with Violet startend getting to a crisis point."

"Good think about Violet being there. She ended up taking the blame for what Amos did then."

-0-

Forrester and Maxwell greeted Griff Lennox

"So after so many years of making fun of me and my field, you finally need my services?" Lennox could not help needling Forrester.

"I guess that Life has a way of knocking away your certainties. Yes. I confess. I do not know what to make of it, and I think that you do. I apologize for my words, and I would be glad to read more on your subject."

"It is OK, Forry. We poked fun at each other often enough."

Sheriff Maxwell told him what they had run across.

"Two burnings, followed by two cases of hypothermia. I see the pattern It is as if whoever or whatever caused the burning spent its own energy and had to recover it by taking it from others. Which were left to freeze."

"And fortunately they got treated early enough"

"Did they say anything?"

"Only of being touched by something very cold. And the cold spread through them."

"Yes. It makes sense. Is there a missing person case too, I understand."

"Yes Wendy Pruitt is now missing."

"Whoever is doing it might be using it as a way to recharge, and give her no chance to tell what happened. I am afraid that if she is not soon found, she miight lose all her energy and die of it."

-0-

Violet tries to embrace Charlie who runs away from her.

"I hate you! You left me!"

"I did not want to. I had to leave, but I always wanted to be back."

"I hate you! Go away!"

Beverly tries to calm Charlie down, and tells Violet that it is better that she leaves for the moment.

"You are only the hired help. I don not have to listen to you. And your employment will be done once I get my son back"

"Still, you are only upsetting him now. He will not listen to anything you say."

Violet turns around and leaves. "I will be back, Charlie"

Beverly watches her leave and wonders. Is it only irritation at being called hired help, or is she really getting a bad vibe from the woman?

-0-

Lester sees the little girl bouncing the ball on the wall.

"Please help my brother." She says to him. "He does not know what he is doing"

Before he can answer she vanishes. Then he sees her go up the balcony. He follows her. She vanishes again. Then reappears a few feet away. He tries to follow her, and each time she tells him the same thing "Help my brother." Then she vanishes and reappears again and again.

-0-

Violet kneels by the ruined altar.

"Great Ra. Let my son return to me Let him not listen to the lies his father and aunt tell him. I have no daughter to offer, yes. But if you smile on me, I can pass on my heritage to him.

She bends over and touches her forehead to the ground extending her arms. "Hear my prayer, Great Ra,"

She stays there a while murmuring. Then she rises again and walks away.

As she leaves, Griff Lennox moves to the altar. "Yes, I bet that no one here recognize this for what it is. They do not believe, and thus they are helpless when things go happen. But I do know, and I know what's to be done."

-0-

While Charlie draws, Beverly reads the old family records. She remembered that there had been another Violet in the family tree. Maybe it is all coincidence, but the vibe she felt when talking to Violet does not go away.

Yes, there is a Violet Raleigh Benchley. And a Violet Rafferty Benchley before And another Violet Rayburn who almost married into the family.

And they had something in common, she realizes, apart from last names which began with Ra...

At her feet, Charlie draws a woman surrouned by flames. And the title "Mother"

-0

Griff talks to Maurice. "What can you tell me about Violet Benchley?"

"We were lovers once."

"Maurice, there is more to her than you realize."

"I think I know her fairly well. She wants her kid back. She thinks that she can straighten him up. I am not so sure. But a mother's love is a powerful thing."

"There is something else about her."

"Griff, you see the supernatural wherever you go. It is your personal hobbyhorse. When you are right you are aright. But you pull some boners sometimes As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"

"I guess I will not convince you. You are not thinking with your brain, but much lower."

"I know her. And you are off the mark."

"Well, maybe I am. Please keep this to yourself."

-0-

Wendy walked the corridors in a trance. She talks of long ago people and events. She mentions little Prue. She recognizes Amos, but when he tries to get close, she shies away. "it s not proper, she mutters. He talks to her in French, but she does not react. She ask "What do you mean?" She calls him Mr. Benchley, never Amos…

"She still has too many of Wendy's mannerisms. She needs to remember more."

Amos bites her and contacts her mind that way "You must remember, Annelise"

Lester remembers that Annelise is the resident ghosts…. Annelise cannot be both a ghost and reincarnated. He tries to tell that to Amos, who tells him severely to shut up, or he'll regret it

-0-

Mr. Lennox, you must see this….

"I am sorry,you are.."

"I am Beverly Stern. I correspond with Professor Harris."

"Yes, he mentioned you. He said that you showed promise as an amateur historian"

"Me mentioned your name as someone who knows about… weird stuff."

"The supernatural, do not be afraid to say it."

"You are investigating something. Here."

"Yes, And your interest is?"

"I found something that may be up your alley. Something that scares me."

-0-

"And so I met Dr. Lennox. He was a very nice man. And he was glad that I had told him what I had found. We talked. He told me that I had the gifts to work for people like him. I.. I told him things I did not tell anyone else. He offered me a different life…. " Beverly's voice broke. "It stills hurts me to think of him."

"Did Violet kill him?"

"Yes. Alas, Maurice could not keep the secret from her. She had ways. It was not that she tricked him. She just used her power and it all came out. Maurice blames himself for it still. He did not really want to believe that the woman he had loved once, that she still loved, could be a monster. Even if he knew better. He hoped for the best. And she knew that he was hiding something. She showed him this scarab, and then he told her all he knew"

"And then?"

"Then she knelt by the fireplace and muttered something. And that's when his car went off the side of the road, and caugh fire. Violet always killed with fire."


	10. Chapter 10

"Grief" Amos said. "I was suffering from grief. First I was too stunned, too out of it for it to register. But when I began to get my bearings, when I could think rationally, then it hit me. It was not as they made it in the show. I DID believe that I was getting back what I lost. Or at least some of it. The memories kept coming back, cutting at me. And the fact that Wendy was also remembering."

"There is no much grieving in the show. People did get killed in it regularly" Lester said "But no one seriously grieves. The dead are forgotten never to be mentioned again. Every now and thn, if there is a plot point but the rule is that the actor leaves, the character is killed off and on to the next thing"

"I wonder if those writers ever handled grief, or if they bothered to write about the way people usually behave."

"The character based on me did grieve, on occasion. But sporadically"

"In any case what happened with Wendy was the consequences of your grieving. And, alas, it made you much more dangerous because of it."

-0-

"After Lennox' death things moved fast. First Maurice confronted Violet." Beverly said.

-0-

."Please tell me you had nothing to do with his death" he implored Violet.

"Why should I explain anything to you, little man? Who cares what a mortal like you thinks? You were fun for a while, but the fun is over"

"He was right! You are not even human!"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Violet gestured and Maurice found himself surrounded by flames.

-0-

"I lost no time running to the sheriff. I said that I had information about Lennox death, and he listened to me. Doc Forrester was there too… I realized that they had been the ones calling for Lennox. I told them what I had told Lennox. About all those Violets marrying into the family, having a son and a daughter, and then the mother and daughter going up in flames. Lennox said that the daughter was the sacrifice, and the son to carry on the line."

"But there was no daughter this time."

"No, but a little girl was missing. We needed to move fast to save her. I did not have any trouble convincing either of them. We just raced to the altar that Lennox had diescribed to me. Both men had been skeptcs about the supernatural before, but they were believers. They told me about the burnings and freezings, and how Wendy's disappearance was due to Violet… well, they were wrong about that one, but it did not matter."

-0-

Maurice used the bed covers to stifle the flames, and had a moment's respite so that he coud run into the corridor and get the fire extinguisher. He killed the fire with it, and then raced to his car He would explain the fire later. He had to find Violet.

-0-

"And then disaster struck" Lester said 'but it worked out in the end."

-0-

Wendy shoot her head. Where was she? What was this place? Why was everything run down? And why was she wearing this old moth-beaten gown?

She raced downstairs. She had to get down. Lester caught her "Don't step there. You may fall."

She screeched, fighting him. "What have your done to me? Where I am?

Lester almost lets her go, but then reconsiders. He cannot betray Amos. And if they find Amos, he'd be in trouble. He might go back to jail again. He wrestles her, and hits her over the head. He drags her back to the bedroom.

'What a mess."

In a couple of hours Amos will be up. And… and what will Amos do?

Prue shows up. "My brother does not know what he is doing. Please help him. "

"I do not know if I can help myself." He checks on Wendy. She is still passed out. But when she wakes up she will try to run again. So she has to be tied up until Amos figures out what to do…

"I am going back to jail"

He things about releasing her. But Amos has power over him. He cannot betray him. It is a locked door in his mind that he cannot open.

"What will Amos do?"

-0-

Charlie followed his mother. All his complaints and anger did not matter anymore. Something pulled at him. Something that mattered more than his sense of being abandoned. Mother had not abandoned him. She had hat to leave for a little while, but now was back,

He did not evne glance and the sleeping girl that his mother was carrying in her arms She did not matter. What mattered was him, and what his mother wanted to give him.

Because his mother wanted to make him a big gift, a great gift. The greatest gift in the world.

Violet let the little girl down and knelt by her.

"Great Ra, accept his sacrifice and allow your power to reside in my child. Let his line continue and strengthen through the ages."

She then turns to Charlie.

"You are a phoenix, like me, Charlie. You have accumulated the power of those who came before you, your ancestors who mingled their blood with mine. But a sacrifice is needed to seal the power in you. And maybe this time you wll have the full power.'

The girl whimpered and Violet looked coldly at her.

"There is not sister this time to give her life for you. It was too painful for me to raise a daughter to sacrifice her later. This way it is better"

It was then that Beverly,Maxell, and Forrester burst it. "Stop right there!" Maxwell should, pointing the gun at her.

"You meddling fools!" Violet answers.

Maxwell shoots, and Violet laughs. Beverly races and grabs Charlie and pulls him away. Forrester grabs the girl. Maxwell shoots again and agan.

Violet bursts into flames.

-0-

Amos approaches the bound Wendy who screams as he shows his fangs.

"You must remember, Annelise. You must remember."

"Don't hurt her, please. Don't hurt her," Lester pleads.

"I can make her remember." He bites her as she struggles. Then their minds connect. Memories flood through him, and reach her… and she begins remembering.


	11. Chapter 11

"So both I and Wendy remembered" Amos said. "And we saw the story unfold again, with all its pain and dashed promises."

"So, tell us what your story was." Lester asked "We got bits and pieces from you, but never the whole story. Beverly got more, but she was more interested in what was going on at the time. The time between Independence and the adoption of the 'Constitution. The troubles of a particular family was not that interesting to her."

"She is an historian. And I preferred that she did not dig into my pain. It was a fair trade. I got blood, and she got information."

"Of course, eventually it got dangerous… but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Tell how it was."

"We were not in Maine. It was still Massachusses. Maine would not separate from Massachusetts until the nineteenth century. And Massachusetts had not so long ago abolished slavery. Jacob's slave, Tom Harris had become a bondservant, though Jacob was not willing to forgo his bond so easily. And anyway, the family still traded in slaves. "

"You did?"

"No, I remonstrated against it, but was told to shut up. My father, Ezra, kept reminding me that Jacob was the head of the family and that we must abide by his wishes. He reminded me that my mother, Rachel, had a weak heart, and that if I misbehaved, it might kill her."

"So you shut up."

"More or less. I gave less speeches to my uncle. I made less comments about 'blood money' (which now sound ironic) but I went into business to make sugar out of maple syrup – so that we did not need to rely on the sugar grown in the tropical plantaions with slave labor. I had a partner, former Army lieutenant, name of Andrew Harper. He was an idealistic man, same as me. Or at least that's how I believed him to be. My father warned me that just because someone agreed with me, that they were good people "There are those who will tell you what you want to hear, and take advantage of you." Alas I did not believe."

"So he stabbed you in the back."

"Yes, but that happened later. At the time I believed him to be an upstanding chap, and when cousin Susannah came to live with is. Her grandfather had been the brother of our grandfather, so that made her a cousin once removed. Her father had left her some money, not much as we had, but it was enough to live comfortably She was charmed by Andrew (the fact that he was a lieutenant made him more attractive) and Andrew seemed smitten by her."

"That's a lot of name to remember, Jacob, Ezra, Rachel, Prudence, Andrew, Susannah"

"Tom Harris, too. Then there was aunt Ruth, sister to my father and uncle. Aunt Ruthless we called her. She was very devout, following a backwoods preacher. But charity, she had none. She made life Hell for Maureen Callahan, the governess for the children. She was a Catholic, an Irish Catholic, and Aunt Ruthless always complained of her "Popish ways". Jacob had hired her, because being what she was, he could pay her a more skimpy wage. And when he dealt with Catholics in his business, he used her as an example of broadmindedness. She taught my sister, Prudence, and Jacob's son, Isaac." He sighed. "There had been another girl, Priscilla, Isaac's sister, but she had died in the same fire as her mother. We were still in mourning when Jacob announced that he would marry agan."


	12. Chapter 12

"So, we were getting ready to receive Uncle Jacob's new bride. It got real tense because Aunt Ruthless started going on an on about Jacob marrying a Papist (she was a French girl from Martinique – a ward of one of the planters that Uncle Jacob had business dealings with.. It was bad enough that we already had one Papist under our roof – poor Maureen – but to make one of THOSE the mistress of Benchley Hall.

It was hard n on all of us. My father had to remind Aunt Ruthless that Jacob was the head of the family and that we were dependent of him. "You want a roof over your head, dear sister". Poor father, caught between his siblings, with a rebellious son, and a sick wife, trying to keep it all together."

"And then things started getting worse"

"Yes. I quarreled with my mistress. I was testy because of what else was happening, and she was getting clingy. And she somehow hoped that I would marry her."

"And you would not"

"She was an Indian My family would never countenance it. My mother told me that the marriage would be the death of her… how she ruled us with her bad heart… And Lise…Liseli."

"She was a witch, of course"

"No. I did not now it then… it came out later, much later… she was Fae. One of the woodland spirits that every now and then take a fancy to fall in love with a human…. Maybe because they want to have a human soul. Or maybe because in their changeless lives they experience little drama, little emotional upheavals, and they want to experience the sensation… She was fae, and she did not behave as humans did – though she could mimic it. As all fae whose fancy falls on a mortal, she had made a bargain with a sorcerer, that if she could not marry me, she would be his servant… his slave. Fae do that. A lot of them become enslaved. But then they regain their freedom, and all becomes an interesting experience in their changeless lives…. It is not love they crave, but strong emotions, such as they never know by themselves… Well, she was now experiencing, love, jealousy, despair, anger…Oh, we gave her a feast. Liseli. An Indian maiden who had enthralled me… "

"So, she was no witch."

"Witch implies that she had been human, or was still human. She was fae, she was alien. We were toys to her to ease her eternal boredom."

"And you did not ever suspect what she was."

"No She was an Indian girl that I had seduced. And I was ashamed of showing her to my family. She took umbrage when I called her Lise instead of Liseli. She said that I wanted to pretend that she was white to make her acceptable…. Well, I take that she got into the role she played… well. Those were things that I found out later… much later…. And she NEVER turned my father into a cat, either…" Amos said, amused. "although I would not have minded if she had turned Uncle Jacob into a cat

"So apart of your tense relationship with Liseli, what else happened?"

"Aunt Ruthless attended the congregation of Reverent Thaddeus McGregor and told them of the awful Papist that was coming to lie with them, as the Mistress of Benchley Hall. You can imagine how that got them worked out."

"And I take that this came to a head later on."

"Yes. And then Andrew came to me and asked my help to elope with Susanna. He said that Jacob would never allow the marriage, but if we presented them with what the French call a "fait accompli" he would have to accept it. I agreed it, and I got Tom to prepare the carriage, saying that I was taking Susanna shopping in town. I did not tell Tom of it. I did not want to make trouble for him with Uncle Jacob. I wanted Jacob to release Tom from his bond so that he could marry Maureen and move away."

"You uncle did not want his black servant to marry a white girl?'

"My uncle did not mind. And anyway, in those days, Irish were not considered "white" Tom had been a slave, but Maureen's forebears had come as slaves, sold by Cromwell. No, they wanted to be released so that Maureen could leave BenchleyTown and Aunt Ruthless."

"You still call her Aunt Ruthless?"

"I guess I still cannot forgive her. She did much evil, in the name of the Lord."

"So, Andrew married Susanna"

"And came back to greet Jacob and his new bride. Annelise. That was when I saw Annelise or the first time."


	13. Chapter 13

I must confess that I was not well disposed towards Uncle Jacob's new bride. She represented the planter class, whom I disliked. People who lived off the sweat of their slaves's brow, I called them. (Oh, I was quite the firebrand then). My father had to lecture me on my duties as a Benchley, (and my mother worried aloud about being turned out of Benchley Hall because of my misbehavior)

"Be civil to her. Do not lecture her in any way. Stop beng such a headache, son"

I promised them that I would behave. I wonder what Uncle Jacob would say about Susanna's elopement. But he regarded her more as a burden than anything else, I reassured myself.

So Annelise came. She looked vulnerable and lost… I found myself sympathizing with her. My parents tried to make her feel welcome, but Aunt Ruthless gave her one of her looks that said volumes. And Isaac screamed at her that she was not her mother, and that he wanted her gone. Jacob immediately dragged hm away to teach him respect, and we could hear his screams as Uncle Jacob beat manners into him.

My mother tried to draw Annelise out, and managed to get some responses. Annelise asked how cold did it get (VERY), and that she needed warm clothes. But it was not the cold that worried her. It was a wholly different world that she had been sent to, and she did not know much. Her English was not very good, and there were so many things that she needed to know.

Uncle Jacob, on the othe hand, took the news of Susanna's elopement with grace. He asked about Andrew, and what his prospects were. "Because I am not going to support him. They will have to live on his pay, as well as the little money her father left her…He probably thought that Susanna was rich, and wlll be disappointed when reality hits him"

"Andrew is no fortune hunter" I retorted."

"Alas, my dear nephew, you are so naïve and trusting. Good thing that I do not let you run the business."

The rest of the evening went rather well. Uncle Jacob was in a good mood, and Annelse seemed more at ease.

Then the bonfire outside was lit.

We went out and saw, to our horror, a female fgure tied to a stake to be burned. It was only a statue, thank God, but Annelise screame.

"It s Blessed Mother Mary!" she screamed.

Then we heard the chants. "No Popery! No Popery!"

Reverend McGregor's congregation, with the help of Aunt Ruthless, was welcoming Jacob's bride.


	14. Chapter 14

"Of course, they could not talk about anti Catholic bigotry in the show" Wendy said "It would conflict with the idealized view of the Founding Fathers, and they were not making cutting edge social commentary. For the same reason they made Tom Harris to be white, and to be doubly sure, cut out his courtship of the governess. No danger of miscegenation in THEIR show"

"But of course, the truth is always more complicated, isn't it? And because they could not show the anti-Catholic sentiment, they had to do an anachronistic witch hunting plot"

"And the physically impossible travel back in time, body and all, instead of just recovering past life memories." Wendy sighed. "It is amazing how they get some things right, and they go off in wild tangents…. Well, let Amos tell us of what happened then."

Amos sighed. "Uncle Jacob was furious. He had McGregor arrested for trespassing and mischief making. He came very close to ordering Aunt Ruthless out of the house, but mother talked him out of it, because of the scandal it would give. My mother was one of the few people who could make Uncle Jacob see reason, and she had a kind heart, so she would not see Auntie out in the streets. How Auntie repaid her…. Aunt Ruthless was incapable of gratitude. She just followed what she saw as her duty."

In any case, life seemed to get back to normal. Annelise calmed down and seemed to settle into her new life. But I had seen through her mask and saw her bewilderment and fear. I befriended her, more out of compassion than anything else, but in our talks, we found we had much in common. She was smart and compassionate. She was born in France, but when her father died insolvent, she had to move in with the Martinique relatives, who saw her value in the marriage market. She said that she felt like a slave, but a well-treated one, unlike the wretches in the field. She had tried to help them, but her efforts were just a drop in the bucket…Well, we did grow closer."

"I can see what it led to" Lester sighed. "It is an old story."

"Yes. In the meantime, Andrew and Susannah returned and Uncle Jacob welcomed them. I was surprised to see Jacob react so well, but I was happy for my friend…. Which shows that I did not judge people very well. Jacob had taken the measure of Andrew very quickly, and between threats and promises, got him to agree to sabotage our sugar maple enterprise. The planters did not want competition in what they saw a lucrative American market. If the ideas of Hamilton to make America self-sufficient and not dependent on imports ever took root it would be a disaster for many… Maureen overhead it and Jacob lost no time telling her how he could wreck her life if she did not hold her tongue… It would be child's play to hide a valuable in her belongings and accuse her of theft. Maureen did know how easy it was, so she never told a soul…. Not till later when Jacob could not hurt her. And so it was that the sugar business which promised so much began to have problems. Broken machinery, lost shipments, vital correspondence never receiver nor answered. It was a death of a thousand cuts."

"And you never suspected?"

"I was that naïve. And then I was distracted between my closeness to Annelise. I was falling in love and did not know it. And Liseli was getting more demanding, more strident. And sometimes her words had an undertone of menace. Of course, the sorcerer who had allowed her to come to me was pressing for payment – because if she failed to hold me, she would then have to serve him for a long time. And I trusted Andrew."

"The situation was headed for an explosion."

"And Auntie was at the heart of it. She spread rumors about Annelise and me. I was unaware of it until Maureen told me that I should only meet Annelise when there was someone like herself in the room, to testify that nothing untoward was taking place. I was floored. I protested my innocence, and she in her wiser ways, told me that innocence was no defense against calumny if someone wishes you ill – she knew it from bitter experience. She said that we could meet in the children's nursery to discuss the children's education. Me, to check on how Prudence was doing, and Annelise, trying on her responsibility as Isaacs' stepmother. Always very correct, always discussing the children… But that was not enough."

"So how did it happen?"

"Isaac had been punished for cutting up Annelise's dresses and shouting at her. "I do not want you here! You are not my mother! when confronted. After he was punished, Auntie came to him and said that if he told his father that he had seen Annelise and me kissing, Annelise would be gone. And then, because she wanted to make trouble, she told Liseli that I was going to send out the "Indian trash" because I had a new love, Annelise."

"And Liseli did not take it well. And so she cursed you same as in the show. But I take that there were no bats involved."

"No. No bats… worse. I came back to meet her, wondering if I still loved her, and why, and she appeared in a green cloud. She told me that she was fae, and that the insult that my family had given her would be punished. Because SHE WAS NOT TRASH. And that we were so damn proud of being what we were, it was time that our pride was ground in the dust. She then lifted a glass sphere and shattered it in the ground…. And when it broke..."


	15. Chapter 15

There was a green mist" Amos continued "and in that green mist stood a giant of a man. He was black, naked, and covered with bleeding wounds. He stared at me coldly, ' I am Kisasi - Vengeance' he said. 'For the slaves that suffered and died in your ship. For their sufferings when they reached port. Their pain and anger and despair created me. And I will carry out their wishes to punsh their tormentors'"

"Wow! And he was the one who cursed you?" Lester gulped. "And, I am sorry to say it, but it might have been deserved."

"Yes, we deserved the pain. But still it hurt…"

"Why a vampire?"

"Because, he said, white people had bled them for years and years, living off their labor. So white people would be bled and enslaved, and I would be the instrument of that. Anyone I fed on would become my slave. They would not longer have their lives to live, but live only to sustent me. Their blood would spill, as Kisasi's was being spilled. I was to be the instrument. And I would help tear up my family, as so many families had been torn up by slavery. He then touched me in the chest, and I felt a cold cut through me as a knife. Then I collaped, and did not come to until the next evening…. I never saw the sun again."

-0-

"And in meantime Andrew received a visitor, " Wendy chipped in" a woman who he was not overjoyed to see. "Debbie you can wreck everything" a maid overhead him say. "I have a child to think of. Do you remember that you have a son?" "I am about to make a deal. I will pass on the money to you. But now you must be gone."

The woman, Debbie, stared at him "I know the deals you make. And you do not always bring in the money."

"Be gone, Debbie, or I'll…"

Debbie left and Andrew grumbled about getting involved with the wrong woman "and I bet that the child isn''t even mine."

The maid, perturbed by what she had heard asked Maureen what she should do. "Nothing. You heard nothing. You know nothing. Do not mix yourself up wth the doings of your masters. They can ruin you. Send you out with no references, so you cannot find another position. Or worse, have you arrested for theft. Lieutenant Harper is a dangerous man. I have seen it happen. So, you know nothing."

-0-

"I knew nothing of it when I rose… I cannot even say I woke up. " Amos continued" I just rose and saw that I had been lying in a freshly made coffin. Tom Harris was next to me.

"He… he told me to build it and put you in it." Tom spluttered. I had to obey… He… he is of my people… Vengeance is due, he said. And this will be the instrument. What is he?"

" I had no answer. The hunger seized me. I did not know what I had to do, what I needed. I just knew that I had to carry out Kisasi's command. I did not even realize that I had taken the form of a bat and that I was flying. I just knew that I needed… I needed…"

"Blood"

"Yes. But more than that. I was being ridden by Kisasi and had to deliver white people's suffering to it"


	16. Chapter 16

"I do not remember the details of what I did. It is a blur of terrified faces, stifled screams, flinching, hopeless struggles, and my forcing my mind on them. I enslaved them. I remember the blood and how my body craved it. The way my body craved it, I might have drained them, but Kisasi would not let me. I was to be an instrument of vengeance, not a killer. Killing was too good, to quick. They should know the despair of slavery.

The next day those men and women would be found, and the town would know that a terror had been unlesashed on them.

At last Kisasi was satisfied for the night, and I regained my senses. I would live on blood. I knew it. I would have to return to the coffin that Tom had made for me and stay there until the next night. I knew that there were things that I could do now, but not what they were. Yes, I could turn into a bat and fly away…"

I drifted towards my home….what used to be my home. I knew that I could not go back there again…but I had to see it.

And then I heard the screams. Jacob, furious at what he thought was a betrayal, was beating Annelise. I rushed in, and when I saw Annelise fallen on the ground, and Jacob rasing his cane to her, I acted. Or rather, the hunger for blood in me acted.

I tore Jacob apart.

I turned towards Annelise to comfort her. But I had just torn a man to pieces, I was all covered in blood, and my face showed uncontrollable rage. She ran screaming from me. She ran, while I tried to call her, to tell her that I would not hurt her… She ran to the edge and jumped into the sea. The rocks tore her body, killing her."


	17. Chapter 17

The deaths of Jacob and Annelise have everybody shocked, with Aunt Ruth muttering that nothing like this ever happened before Jacob started bringing papists home. She stares hard at Maureen, who knows that sooner or later she will be blamed for what happened.

Andrew comes with the news of several people having been attacked, and found wandering around town, with strange wounds on their throats. "No one has been killed" he says, "but it might happen soon. Specially if they wander over the rocks and fall down the sea "Maureen notices the half smile in his face, before he erases it quick. She realizes that he means to kill the woman, Debbie, who came to see him, now that he has someone else to blame for it.

And Amos is nowhere to be found. Neither him nor Liseli. They vanished into the night. No explanation given. Are they also victims of the monster who is now stalking the town?

…

When night falls Amos rises and finds Kisasi, who has summoned Annelise's spirit. "This one thought she could help the slaves. Little mercies that helped very little. Well, now she will watch over the family, and seek to help and protect it, but it will be only drops in the bucket"

"You cannot do this! It is not her fault!"

"It is, and you know it. And it is yours. Go prey on the townspeople"

Amos flies into town and attacks several people. He is more aware of what he is doing and can plan the attacks better. Not be seen, do not let them be alarmed, keep them from screaming. The blood begins to fill him, and he is shocked to find that he likes it.

He approaches a woman, not noticing that she is too close to the waters edge. She senses that he means her no good and tries to escape him. He grabs for her, and she falls in the water. He tries to pick her up, but the weight of her dress drags her down, and she drowns.

…

Reverend McGregor starts shouting outside Benchley Hall about the poison of Popery that infects Benchley Hall. Tom tries to make hm go away, but Reverend McGregor will not budge. He tells Tom that he should keep away from Papists, and not think of marrying them. There is an argument as Tom remembers the slave ship that brought him, and McGregor says that he should be grateful that he was brought here where he could hear the Gospel and be saved. Ezra comes in, and as the new master of Benchley Hall, he orders McGregor to leave the estate. Maureen, tearfully, asks him to free Tom from his bond, so that they can move away from McGregor "I do not think that many places would be more welcoming than this. At least, here I can protect you." He comments that there were more attacks, and that there were two deaths. A streetwalker named Opal Russell and a stranger named Debbie Howell.

…..

The next night, Amos goes preying again. He wants desperately to see his family again, even from a distance. He glides through the trees, wondering If this is how it will be for him from now on. And how much the family will have to endure. As he glides through, little Prudence sees him. "There is Amos! "she shouts. She runs through the door and tries to catch up to him. Tom sees her and runs after her, but she evades him. She stumbles and falls on a snowbank and is buried there. She screams for her, and Tom digs her up, but she is soaked and shivering. He takes her back.

Amos runs into Aunt Ruth who is surprised to find him. "We are all looking for you." "Where I am you cannot follow" Aunt Ruth is frightened, and Amos finds that he can put her in his power. He asks her of what is going on. She tells of Jacob's and Annelise's death. She says enough about Annelise that has Amos questioning her further. She tells, defiantly, that she instructed Daniel to tell Jacob that Annelise and Amos were kissing.

"So, this is your fault, all your fault, that Annelise died!" He shouts and tears her apart.


	18. Chapter 18

The deaths of Jacob and Annelise have everybody shocked, with Aunt Ruth muttering that nothing like this ever happened before Jacob started bringing papists home. She stares hard at Maureen, who knows that sooner or later she will be blamed for what happened.

Andrew comes with the news of several people having been attacked, and found wandering around town, with strange wounds on their throats. "No one has been killed" he says, "but it might happen soon. Specially if they wander over the rocks and fall down the sea "Maureen notices the half smile in his face, before he erases it quick. She realizes that he means to kill the woman, Debbie, who came to see him, now that he has someone else to blame for it.

And Amos is nowhere to be found. Neither him nor Liseli. They vanished into the night. No explanation given. Are they also victims of the monster who is now stalking the town?

…

When night falls Amos rises and finds Kisasi, who has summoned Annelise's spirit. "This one thought she could help the slaves. Little mercies that helped very little. Well, now she will watch over the family, and seek to help and protect it, but it will be only drops in the bucket"

"You cannot do this! It is not her fault!"

"It is, and you know it. And it is yours. Go prey on the townspeople"

Amos flies into town and attacks several people. He is more aware of what he is doing and can plan the attacks better. Not be seen, do not let them be alarmed, keep them from screaming. The blood begins to fill him, and he is shocked to find that he likes it.

He approaches a woman, not noticing that she is too close to the waters edge. She senses that he means her no good and tries to escape him. He grabs for her, and she falls in the water. He tries to pick her up, but the weight of her dress drags her down, and she drowns.

…

Reverend McGregor starts shouting outside Benchley Hall about the poison of Popery that infects Benchley Hall. Tom tries to make hm go away, but Reverend McGregor will not budge. He tells Tom that he should keep away from Papists, and not think of marrying them. There is an argument as Tom remembers the slave ship that brought him, and McGregor says that he should be grateful that he was brought here where he could hear the Gospel and be saved. Ezra comes in, and as the new master of Benchley Hall, he orders McGregor to leave the estate. Maureen, tearfully, asks him to free Tom from his bond, so that they can move away from McGregor "I do not think that many places would be more welcoming than this. At least, here I can protect you." He comments that there were more attacks, and that there were two deaths. A streetwalker named Opal Russell and a stranger named Debbie Howell.

…..

The next night, Amos goes preying again. He wants desperately to see his family again, even from a distance. He glides through the trees, wondering If this is how it will be for him from now on. And how much the family will have to endure. As he glides through, little Prudence sees him. "There is Amos! "she shouts. She runs through the door and tries to catch up to him. Tom sees her and runs after her, but she evades him. She stumbles and falls on a snowbank and is buried there. She screams for her, and Tom digs her up, but she is soaked and shivering. He takes her back.

Amos runs into Aunt Ruth who is surprised to find him. "We are all looking for you." "Where I am you cannot follow" Aunt Ruth is frightened, and Amos finds that he can put her in his power. He asks her of what is going on. She tells of Jacob's and Annelise's death. She says enough about Annelise that has Amos questioning her further. She tells, defiantly, that she instructed Daniel to tell Jacob that Annelise and Amos were kissing.

"So, this is your fault, all your fault, that Annelise died!" He shouts and tears her apart.


	19. Chapter 19

The town is abuzz with the disappearance of Reverend McGregor, and his congregation starts muttering that it is the Papists' fault. Maureen begs with Ezra to release Tom from his bond, because she is afraid to stay. Ezra, mourning his wife's death and the sickness of his daughter does not pay attention.

Maureen realizes that Isaac is missing. She asks Tom to look for him, and certain that Isaac is in danger, gets a pistol

"Lieutenant Harper knows that with Amos and Prudence gone, only Isaac stands between him that the Benchley fortune" she tells Tom. "I know that he has killed already. He may kill again. Let's hope we find them in time"

They see horse tracks going into the rocks. Tom gets a tracking dog and puts it on the trail.

They hear screams and they see Isaac running from Harper. "He wants to kill me!" he shouts.

Harper lifts his gun towards them. Maureen shoots him.

"He is dead." Tom says. "We have to let the authorities know"

-0-

Amos rises, and while the hunger for blood seizes him, he knows that there is something he must do.

He enters his home and sees the bodies of his mother and sister prepared for burial. He sees his father, bent, broken.

"Father!" he says.

"You are alive!" Ezra says.

"No, father." He goes semitransparent.

"Are you a ghost?"

"Yes. Our family sins caught up with me. With all of us." He cannot give in to grief. It is too late for his mother and sister. But Isaac can still be saved. "We are being punished for the slave trade. Their anger and despair found a way to reach us and is destroying us."

"And we are doomed."

"Maybe if there is repentance and willingness to offer reparations, the vengeance can be turned aside." Maybe. Maybe it will not be enough. And maybe Kisasi will figure out that you cannot persecute them once they are all dead… "Get out of the trade. Release Tom from his bond. Work towards abolition. And tell Isaac to do the same if his children are to be spared."

"Son…"

"Our sins have caught up with us." Amos repeats and he vanishes.

Sobs cut through him. All his family gone… or almost gone. Little Prudence who looked upon him with adoring eyes. His mother. Even Aunt Ruthless and uncle Jacob… And Annelise, who he now realizes he loved.

But his hunger will not be denied. And maybe if he is careless, he will be caught, and they put an end to him…

-0-

Maureen has been detained to explain the shooting of Harper. Ezra testifies to what Isaac told him. Also, a search of Debbie's effects shows a marriage certificate to Harper. Ezra says that Harper probably killed her, and that he had committed bigamy to inherit the Benchley fortune "and he might have killed Susannah too once he had the money." Maureen is released, and Ezra says that he released Tom from his bond, and that they two of them can go.

-0-

Amos lies in his coffin. Tom comes, in a daze, summoned by Kisasi. "He seeks to escape me by getting caught and destroyed. He must be taught a lesson. He has Tom chain up the coffin and lock it in the secret vault. "You will learn not to seek to escape me. And the family will continue so that they can endure their punishment through the centuries".

Tom leaves, still in a daze. "it is better that you forget this, so that you won't be tempted to release him. "

Tom goes to meet Maureen, but as he approaches, he hears screams of terror. He races and finds that McGregor's congregation have caught Maureen and they are lynching her. He tries to rescue her, but is held down, and watches her as she strangles on the rope….

-0-

And Wendy wakes up, reaching for her throat, trying to pull an imaginary rope off it.

Amos realizes that she was Maureen in her past life.


End file.
